By JOHN E. SETTLE Jr.
Editor/Publisher
At a special meeting of the Caddo Commission on Tuesday, Nov. 29, Steffon Jones was selected as the interim commissioner for commission District 6. This seat was vacant after the resignation of Lynn Cawthorne.
Four other persons applied for the position: Jasmine Clinton, who does not live in the district; Ernest Baylor, who has a homestead exemption outside the district; Hersey Jones; and Steffon Jones.
Baylor and Hersey Jones were not available to address the commission. Both Clinton and Steffon Jones gave a brief presentation to the 11 commissioners.
Jones was selected by the vote of nine commissioners.
Commissioner Ken Epperson voted for Hersey Jones. When the seat had previously become vacant Epperson unsuccessfully nominated Steffon Jones.
Roy Burrell voted for Baylor. Both Burrell and Baylor served in the Louisiana Legislature. Burrell likes to be on a government payroll, having previously also served as a Shreveport City Council person. Obviously, he wanted to share another public bounty with Baylor.
It was a known fact that Baylor has a homestead exemption outside District 6: this information was shared with Burrell. Although Baylor’s voter registration address is in the district, his domicile is where he has been living for many years.
Obviously, this issue not of concern to Burrell, who has a voting pattern of supporting the good old guys that he has served with in the past. At practically every commission meeting, Burrell reminds his fellow commissioners, ad nauseam, of the prior offices he has held along with his accomplishments both in and out of the public arena.
Burrell presently serves as the commission parliamentarian. If the customary procedure is followed, he will be elected vice president in January 2022 and then become president in 2023. Hopefully, Burrell will become more fact-conscious and versed in legal requirements in his future votes before he becomes commission president.
The election for the permanent commissioner to fill Cawthorne’s unexpired term will be the November 2022 primary.